Fitting Cleats to Shoes - Science or Suck it and see?

[Morat]

For the first time in many years I've got new cycling shoes. Nowt flash, just some very basic Shimano shoes and two bolt SPD/MTB type cleats.

I've got new cleats so I don't have to deal with getting the old ones off the new shoes and I can compare the two sets but the old ones were slammed into the shoes in a hurry, and tightened right up so they never moved since. I've been OK with them for 10 years. Should I do anything more clever this time? Is there a theoretical sweet spot for cleats? My old ones are right at the front of the adjustment range so I'm a bit wary of just copying them.

[rafletcher]

It is, as ever, a personal thing, but...

I would start with them “straight ahead” and set under the widest part of the forefoot. See how they feel and adjust if necessary for clearance etc..

I tend to put mine to the back of the slots, but that may just be a feature of my foot size/shape relative to the shoes I find that fit.

[T42]

I set mine so that my heels are a bit closer to the bike - feet don't usually go straight fore & aft - and the pedal under the ball of my foot.

If you use M-type (multi-release) cleats you'll have a bit more freedom of movement, but you'll disengage from the pedal pretty easily. They might be a bit noisy, too.

[Basil]

This should probably be in the Div thread.
Don't do what I did. I've no idea how I could have so stupid as to think it was a good idea.

Fitting brand new spd cleats to new shoes, I thought it would be a great idea to bolt then in loosely.  Ride up and down the road outside my house, shuffling them around until it felt right. Then leap off the bike and bolt them down tight.   

Of course I couldn't unclip.  I rode around, frantically shaking my feet, completely losing cleat position feeling very stupid.  At this point I realised I had an even greater problem.  How was I going to stop?
Eventually I rolled up on the pavement and came to a halt by falling against the low wall outside my house.
My neighbours then probably enjoyed the spectacle of me in socks beating my shoes off the peddles with a large lump of wood.

Hth

[Kim]

I suggest attempting to reproduce the position that you've been okay with for 10 years...

(Top tip: Fill the cleat bot heads with hot glue or a similar substance that will prevent grit from getting in and rounding the socket, but can be prised out with a small screwdriver when you eventually want to unscrew them.)

[Cudzoziemiec]

This should probably be in the Div thread.
Don't do what I did. I've no idea how I could have so stupid as to think it was a good idea.

Fitting brand new spd cleats to new shoes, I thought it would be a great idea to bolt then in loosely.  Ride up and down the road outside my house, shuffling them around until it felt right. Then leap off the bike and bolt them down tight.   

Of course I couldn't unclip.  I rode around, frantically shaking my feet, completely losing cleat position feeling very stupid.  At this point I realised I had an even greater problem.  How was I going to stop?
Eventually I rolled up on the pavement and came to a halt by falling against the low wall outside my house.
My neighbours then probably enjoyed the spectacle of me in socks beating my shoes off the peddles with a large lump of wood.

Hth

This could only have been improved if you'd chosen to do it on a towpath. 

[DuncanM]

The way of setting them I have had 2 bike fitters try is to try to get the joint at the back bit of your big toe directly above the pedal spindle. TBH, that's a giant faff, and I suspect it's not got anything behind it (other than the KOPS type reasoning). I'd just try to replicate your old position (making sure that you actually set them according to how your foot fits in the relevant shoe, not relating to where the sole of the shoe ends).

[Kim]

This could only have been improved if you'd chosen to do it on a towpath. 

No, that was me.  For reasons I can't entirely remember (but probably involved loose paving slabs), my first Clipless Moment™ was on the Regent's Canal towpath.

As I lost control I heroically managed to throw myself away from the water, landing deep in a bed of nettles with bike still attached and any attempt at movement resulting in more stings.  As I lay there trying to work out how to extricate myself, a pedestrian - evidently concerned by my failure to pick myself up - appeared and asked if I was injured.  I explained the situation, and she very kindly untied my shoes and lifted the bike out of the way.

Pragmatically, it was either going to be that or in front of a dozen giggling teenagers at traffic lights.

[Morat]

This should probably be in the Div thread.
Don't do what I did. I've no idea how I could have so stupid as to think it was a good idea.

Fitting brand new spd cleats to new shoes, I thought it would be a great idea to bolt then in loosely.  Ride up and down the road outside my house, shuffling them around until it felt right. Then leap off the bike and bolt them down tight.   

Of course I couldn't unclip.  I rode around, frantically shaking my feet, completely losing cleat position feeling very stupid.  At this point I realised I had an even greater problem.  How was I going to stop?
Eventually I rolled up on the pavement and came to a halt by falling against the low wall outside my house.
My neighbours then probably enjoyed the spectacle of me in socks beating my shoes off the peddles with a large lump of wood.

Hth

This is good advice! But after having to rescue my neighbour from a similar situation on his second ride out with our informal gang I'm all over that one Had I realised it was his second clipped-in ride ever we'd have been a bit more sympathetic... but hey. He's 20 years younger than me so I'm sure he'll catch up all too soon.

[Morat]

I suggest attempting to reproduce the position that you've been okay with for 10 years...

(Top tip: Fill the cleat bot heads with hot glue or a similar substance that will prevent grit from getting in and rounding the socket, but can be prised out with a small screwdriver when you eventually want to unscrew them.)

Great tip, thank you.

[Cudzoziemiec]

We probably need a separate thread for falling off into water, nettles, thistles and other painful situations. My first was before I'd even graduated to two wheels let alone clipless. I was four years old, or maybe still three, and I somehow fell off my Big Blue Trike at the bottom of the garden path into the huge patch of nettles that was there under the hawthorn tree on the other side from the shed. The nettles were taller than me. Ouch.

[freeflow]

Apparently mid sole is now where we should be so slam em right back.

[T42]

Crikey, my toe already hits the warhorse's front tyre when I don't set off carefully. Slam 'em back & I'll be playing harp on the spokes.